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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 20, 2010

Elena Baltacha

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

E. BALTACHA/K. Bondarenko
6-2, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How you feeling?
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, good. No, I feel fantastic. Uhm, I knew I had to play well, and I went out with a game plan to attack the forehand. I think I did that well. And I really did believe that I could beat her so...
Yeah, I'm just very delighted.

Q. The first three net cords trickling over, did you think someone up there loved you today?
ELENA BALTACHA: And I can believe it. I really did try to apologize. She did get a couple back. But, yeah, that's the crazy thing about tennis, I guess: you can get three net cords in the first game or second game, kind of get away with it.
No, I was very, very blessed to get that.

Q. How much difficulty did you have with the sun because you were not happy at all?
ELENA BALTACHA: My ball toss was literally right in the middle of where the sun was. And I tried to kind of change it to the right slightly. That kind of made me slice it a bit more. There was a couple more double-faults.
You just try and adapt to it as best as you can and just kind of get on with it. It was difficult, but I think I adapted pretty well with it.

Q. Apart from the dip in the second start, were you surprised you maintained that level of consistency throughout the match?
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, there was a dip at the beginning. But I knew that the first set was excellent. And I knew that I could get it back because the last three weeks I've been playing like that. I really did believe that I could get that back.
I was just trying to kind of go back a little bit and just kind of settle myself again and try and kind of go up the gears and try and find it, and I did. So, yeah, I'm very delighted.

Q. Mentally in the second set when you thought you had the chance to be serving for it, to lose it, then to get it back again, you're digging into what? Bad experiences in the past? Confidence you're taking from this year?
ELENA BALTACHA: No, confidence. I think that the the thing that has changed with me. I don't look back anymore. I used to do that a lot actually. I'm fed up with doing that now. I just want to look forward. There's no need to look back. There's absolutely no need at all.
I really have to thank Nino for that. You know, it's all about forward. It's all about getting better. It's all about looking forward. That's it. That's just what I kept thinking about: no, you are good enough, your tennis is there, you just need to believe in it.
I think as the set went on, I really did step up, like especially on her serve I really made sure she knew I was standing there, you know, that I was going to clobber into that forehand and get a short ball. I hit a lot of winners towards the end.

Q. Possibility of Dinara Safina.
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, fantastic. Fantastic. I've got nothing to lose again. I know Safina is a good player, but she has had her blips recently.
Yeah, I mean, I'm just going to go for it. I've got nothing to lose. I'm very excited about it. I don't think she's actually played yet. It looks like it probably will be Dinara. I have a day off tomorrow, recharge, then get going again on Friday. So, yeah.

Q. You said after the first game, the cramps were from tension. Was there no tension today when you went on court?
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, there was no tension at all. On paper she was the better player. Deep down I knew I could beat her, though. I knew I've come in with good form. I'm hitting the ball much better. My tennis has improved quite a few gears. And I knew that I could just go out there and just swing freely and kind of just take my game to her. And I did that.
Also I didn't want to take any chances. I hydrated very well last night. I took extra electrolytes onboard. Probably drank two to three liters. So I knew my body would be really fresh to start. So, yeah.

Q. Speaking of the heat, it was warm out there. What else have you been doing to prepare for the heat coming this week?
ELENA BALTACHA: I think the last two weeks have really helped, coming out for kind of the Aussie season earlier on, which really helped. Even though it wasn't really hot in Auckland or Hobart, there was a couple of days that were pretty hot. So that helped.
And I've been working very hard on my conditioning, so that helps as well in the heat. To be honest, I've never really not enjoyed playing in the heat. I pretty much find that I adapt quite well to it. So I didn't really find there was any problems with that.

Q. A lot of crowd support out there. Does that help in a foreign Grand Slam?
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, it's always lovely to get home fans who come out and cheer for you. It's lovely. Especially seeing the Scottish fans in the crowd. Yeah, it's lovely. The people have been fantastic. A very big thank you to them.

Q. You converted 6 of your 11 breakpoint opportunities today. Is that a concern?
ELENA BALTACHA: No, not at all. Kateryna is a very good player. You know, it was just trying to do the best that I could. You know, I played well today.

Q. In terms of getting the job done, where does that rate in terms of getting results, having a specific job to do and doing it?
ELENA BALTACHA: Yeah, that's the biggest thing that I've been trying to kind of get better with my tennis. It's really the confidence, if you really believe that you can deliver, whether it's in a very tight situation or not. And that's the one thing that I have improved a lot over the last six months, is that I have been performing more consistently.
It hasn't kind of been one week here and then nothing for six months. You know, I've done it week in, week out. Yeah, I mean, obviously there's a lot more to improve on my tennis. But mentally I think I'm getting there now.

End of FastScripts

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